We had a surprise visit this morning from Steve Gibbs, our rep from Cosentino UK. He dropped in to bring us our certification as a Silver Status worktop fabricator with their products – Cosentino’s Silestone, Eco and Sensa Granite.
The reason for this new status is simply that our volume of Silestone has been growing steadily over recent years. The whole quartz market has grown, of course, and we now manufacture a large proportion of our worktops from engineered stone. When we began with quartz, most of our volume was with relatively low-profile manufacturers, but this has turned round with the development of a warm relationship with two or three major, leading brands, who have helped with good communication and information, exemplary after-sales service and, of course, significant discounts which we have passed on to our customers. Silestone is prominent amongst these.
Silestone’s strength with us has been in three areas. We have begun to stock two reasonably-priced greys and an off-white – Gris Expo, Marengo and Blanco City – which we have been able to offer at a very competitive rate indeed. Then we have also manufactured kitchen worktops in two particular groups of products – the stunning Platinum Range, with its amazing metallic effects – and the natural stone emulating quartz, like Lagoon, Lyra and Tigris Sand. I should probably also add Aluminio Nube – a most unusual light grey with a subtle sparkle and a very reasonable price band.
There are various advantages of Silver Status. In the first place, we will be eligible for offers and discounts which should put us in an even better position to offer Cosentino’s products at an affordable price. But secondly, we are now on track, subject to some retooling and training in our workshop, to offer the amazing new Dekton range of engineered stone for worktops. Dekton is at the very cutting edge of Cosentino’s commitment to developing new and better materials for flooring, cladding and, of course, kitchen worktop use. Like a quartz in being man-made, Dekton differs in not being resin-based; instead, particles of minerals and glass are bonded together under massive temperature and pressure to yield a man-made stone which has been formed in a way not so very different from many naturally-occurring rocks. The result is hard, heat-resistant, scratch and stain-resistant, strong and beautiful. Have a look at Dekton here.
It is going to take a little while to be able to offer Dekton, but rest assured, it is in the pipe-line, watch this space! Meanwhile, our thanks to Steve, Fran, Sean, Wendy and all others at Cosentino UK who have worked with us to build this happy and useful relationship. Here’s to the next steps!
